Oct 7 2013:
Why are we worrying about stopping corruption in other countries when we cannot solve the problem in our own country? Same goes for hunger, homelessness, poverty, etc. Maybe the only way to solve it is to stop focusing on other countries' problems and solve ours first.

Oct 18 2013:
Changing education systems, restructuring the business and economics, transparency...yada yada yada. I wouldn't classify those as 'solutions', but rather as 'tools' for decreasing high levels of corruption. After all, I think the main problem is not in the current political situation of the nations or their history, but rather the problem is the individualistic nature of human beings. Although I have to admit that the political situation and the history of the country (along with other factors) do play a big role in the 'rise' of corruption levels, but my point is that they are not the sole reason for the existence of corruption in the first place. The sole reason for the existence of corruption (as I said) is the individualistic nature of human beings.
Did somebody ask the question: If you are working in a developing country and you have to choose between what's morally right and providing money/resources for yourself/your family...what would you do? In times of turbulence would you care more about the others than you would care for yourself? Maybe some people would...but the truth is that in any country on this planet not 100% of the people will do that.
So yes, corruption can be decreased, but never eradicated. That's just something I feel should be mentioned in this conversation...

Oct 6 2013:
Corruption is everywhere from pin to ship. What I feel towards corruption is that it cannot be prevented but can be cured and minimized overtime, that also can be possible when people with strong desire against corruption comes forward and participate in system, obviously one can’t clean the dirt by talking about it.
Education plays an important role too, teaching ethics and morale to younger generations is vital. People must be educated about the power of voting, choosing leaders with good credentials. NGOs(Non- Governmental Organizations) must come forward to educate people about voting.
Next year we have General Elections in our country, and that certainly help us, as this time there are around 100 million new voters, who are certainly adamant against corruption, and this time people are more aware than the previous times.

Corruption grows best at dark and shady places and where the 'power of decision' is concentrated in just a view individuals.

By eliminating the growing conditions for corruption, it will therefore decline accordingly.

Transparency towards the public, 'power of decision' towards the public, the majority of the people. This would be a good start to fight corruption and 'direct democracy' a good choice to get it going.

Oct 10 2013:
Transparency is an ongoing process and for it to work, it needs certain conditions and criteria.
Public media plays an important part in this process. When it is controlled, it needs to be freed again, as otherwise it doesn't work.

Usually media is controlled by a corrupt minority to control the majority in their fashion and therefore it takes longer and is more difficult for the majority to free itself again. Yet there is good news. The old centralized structure of media is shifting. Today, many people are able to access the Internet which enables them to gain independent information and to publish their information. This decentralization is very hart to control by a corrupt minority, which is one of the reason, why some nations censor the Internet. Yet censorship only decelerates freedom, it is incapable to stop it.

Just don't expect change to happen over night. Unite with others who have already woken or which are beginning to question their media. Share your information, reveal corruption, cast light in shady places. And more importantly, be patient and persistent.

But if you live in a society in which the majority of the people are corrupt, you may consider to seek a better place, as the chances for change are to low for your lifetime.

Oct 22 2013:
I like your suggestion. However, not all people suffering acutely from the consequences of corruption have the option of moving to a different place. And if we consider that the entire world is corrupt ... how can we get to another planet?

Oct 11 2013:
I don't think transparency is much of a solution. Look at the US and its surveillance issues; yes, maybe their relationship with some countries has become strained, but nothing serious has happened as a result and they haven't been made to face any serious consequences. Another example is the Zimbabwean government, whose actions are well-known to the world at large but which has yet to be overthrown or even hindered in some way. Those are just two examples, but there are a number in recent history.

Power of decision toward the public is also no solution. Most of the Arab countries adhere to this idea because it's actually a part of Muslim custom in a sense, yet there is continuous strife in these areas even after there have been uprisings to overthrow corrupt governments.

Oct 11 2013:
Look at the direction of the US surveillance program, actually at any surveillance program serving just a view. That got nothing to do with transparency regarding corruption.

Does your county has a surveillance program`If yes, try to ask to get the latest data run on the biometric data of the president of your nation. Or of the officer in charge of the police. How likely would it be for you to get this data? Or even for the major of your town, or for your neighbor?

I would be surprised if this information was given to you, so where is transparency here?

Oct 11 2013:
I'm sure my country does, but I have a very corrupt government so it wouldn't surprise me. It also wouldn't surprise me if I was told I couldn't get this data, for the same reason.

Like you say, there is no transparency. But this isn't my point; my point is that once these things are made transparent, once rights have been violated, very little to nothing is done. That is corruption.

When I ask for more transparency to prevent corruption within a government, I don't ask for surveillance programs, neither for the political representatives, nor for the citizens.

Surveillance is borne by the wish 'to control' and the wish to control is born by 'fear'. And as we all know, fear has never been a good adviser.

When I talk about 'transparency', I mean, that the process in which decisions are made is open and its reasons explained, so that it becomes easier to identify faulty explanations and reasons.

And I don't stop there, I go even further. Corruption only works if the people who make decisions are just a view. And there is doesn't matter if those 'view' have been elected democratically or not. The fact, that they are just view is the risk in itself. So to prevent corruption of a view efficiently, one got to increase the number of the people involved in the final decision.

An evil minded company may have enough budget to bribe a view politicians, yet what if there were hundreds of them, thousands, even millions? Do you think there was a budged big enough to bribe a whole nation?

For really small nations, maybe, but not for any average sized one.

So how do we get hundreds, thousands and millions of politicians? By getting the people directly involved in any, I repeat, ANY, decision in their very own affairs. This does not exclude a representative structure, by no means, yet the representative structure alone can not make any decision. This system is called direct democracy, and would be a good start to fight corruption.

Oct 3 2013:
Oh my! I live in Brazil where the corruption is our infection since the begin when Portugal colony .We live under a democracy but, the politicians are the major problem, are they? Incredible corruption we are living more than 500 years . I don´t know which we can do. The people are maintained by a protectionism fake ; the poor people receive some money and they believe that the politician are good for them. It´s a big problem that I can´t see solution.

Oct 5 2013:
I don`t think the main problem is politicians or other people but the regime.You said that you are living under a democracy,but still exist severe corruption.So maybe it is not the problem of the country`s system? My answer is no.Good systems make evildoer dare not do evil,while bad systems force the good to do evil.As far as i know Brazil is far from being a democratic country.is there a strong and independent justice system? Everyone has their right to select the leaders of the country? They have sufficient right to demonstrate?Freedom of speech?

Oct 2 2013:
I am living in china ,a developing country and a big corruption nation.Why the situation is so bad here ? I think the fundamental reason is because we are not a democratic country,where people here have no freedom of speech,no freedom of demonstration,no general election and so forth which are the effective measures to monitor the government.

Oct 21 2013:
There is corruption because people let those who are in government do the corruption. If the people will just fight against corruption there will be no corruption. We should watch and be always aware what's going on with our government. People should choose to process things legally rather than paying those who are in charge to have a quick and easy process. We should hate and despise corruption!

Oct 21 2013:
The root of the problem is the people....If people don't resort to corruption to find a way for them to achieve their goal, there wouldn't be this issue at all....Education is the best way forward...But, we shouldn't aim to educate grown up about it, it will be wastage of resources...A country who really wants to eradicate corruption should start from scratch with their kids in schools - it should be a long term strategy which will only bear its fruit when those kids are running the country...yes it is a long time to wait, yes, in the meantime the economy will still be affected, but at least the economy is preparing the future to be corruption free....and we will see a betterment in many men's and women's living standard...

But again, is corruption something that can be eradicated at 100%? It is a difficult question to answer as mankind is a striving community, always out to get the best out of every situation - may be the aim shouldn't be to eradicate corruption but to find a way to use corruption for it to favor the whole community??

The whole strategy should be devise in 2 parts, firstly education and secondly, to use corruption in a positive way...How to go about to do that is the big question?!!!!

Oct 6 2013:
Most developing countries do not have right to information act/law which the developed countries have. Strong state institutions can curb corruption like the judiciary.
One persian poet and scholar sheikh Saadi said
Countries are strengthen by laws
knowledge is strnghten by debate
and morals of childern by strict training
we need strict anti corruption/accountability laws, knowledge, education and awareness and moral training plus handsome salaries

Oct 5 2013:
Well I'm from africa "Guine-Bissau" and my English is not good but I hope that you'll understand me.

Where is more corruption certainly is in most part of African counties. But the best way to eliminate the corruption is in education that begins in our homes. If every parents show their children politeness, respect and not hurt your next.
I think many thing will change to better. And people should think that being in government and the more honest the guy is the better will be to him. He always will get a good reputation, good job, good salary and the people will support him but if the man is kind of corrupted everything going wrong with him.

Oct 5 2013:
Hi,Mohamed Djalo.I don`t agree with you.just as i have said that good systems make evildoer dare not do evil,while bad systems force the good to do evil,which is now the situation here in my country China.I don`t believe people ,I believe system.

Oct 5 2013:
Great, this is your point of view. Do you believe in your self? Are you different of all people in the world? Good system means good people in my point of view. Good system means good education, good live, respect and many other adjective.
To get good system it's necessary good people to manage the system otherwise the system will not work too.

Oct 7 2013:
at first i did not understand, but your second comment makes sense...

in south africa we have corrupt government and uneducated politicians in power.
our governance is dictated by the U.K. - apartheid was an excuse to overthrow a good system.
our revolution came about when britain lost political power and wealth in the country.
today we have no education unless privatised.
the ANC has closed all educational institutes for teachers and implemented the american system of rolling blacks out... you get passed over to the next grade...
the black south african claims unfounded racism towards them. today we have less jobs and more unemployment and even more black racism.
the indigenous KHOI/SAN are now victimised by black africans stealing land and perpetuating violence...

I am neither a historian nor an economist. In fact, I am a programmer however I would like to comment on Kevin Su's comment where its description fits on my country, Malaysia.

Malaysia is a democratic country for quite some time. We do have some freedom of speech and demonstration as long as it's not a sensitive issue. To us, the sensitive issue is racial problems.

Despite Malaysia is a democratic country, our corruption rate is considerably high and there are many reasons why this happened. My reasons are not on the government side because I am not too sure of what's inside either.

The main reason behind is our education system fosters only knowledge that's useful for us in the working world, but not in the attitude nor morals. Secondly is, family education lacks of attitude shaping. Thirdly, even our own people thinks that bribing solves things faster. What causes all these is the backbone of a country, educating people to be a good citizen is lacking.

So Kevin, being a democratic country only is not enough. There are far more reasons behind why corruptions happened in every country.

Oct 5 2013:
Hi,Tifa Ong ,thanks for your reply. I am agree with you that having democracy is not enough.There are still many more other reasons for why corruption exist in a country. But i think democracy is the precondition to fight corruption in any nations.Without it ,it is totally impossible to solve this problem.

Nov 1 2013:
If the social and economic corruption of developing nations upsets you - wait until the nation becomes fully developed - then you'll come up against hypercritical corruption. That'll make you really sick!

Nov 1 2013:
I believe that is some evidence to suggest a negative correlation between pay and corruption. Meaning the more you pay an official, the less likely they are to engage in graft, although I think for that work there has to be a reasonable fear of consequences. So I would arguing increasing public salaries while increases enforcement of corruption rules.

Oct 31 2013:
What I see in Mather's proposal is to introduce a 3rd party into the process where an official requires a fee to perform a service they are already being paid to supply. The 3rd party is a middleman in the purest form of entrepreneurism. A champion in the mind of the one being bribed, and a challenger to the bribe taker. Of course money is still involved only it is expected to be a significantly lesser amount that the bribe and goes to the champion. Not unlike hiring an enforcer but of a more benevolent nature :)

Many other countries have non-profit agencies that perform similar tasks where public officials are stonewalling some hapless citizen for whatever reason. Of course, non-profits of this nature are often struggling for funding since the government agencies they are often challenging have unlimited resources and hapless citizens are invariably at their mercy. Many non-profits may even require some modest fee as well.

Where I have a problem still involves corruption only this time of the champion. If the champion is a for-profit agent then they could end up gouging the hapless citizen, albeit for less than the bribe but still far more than the service entailed.

But ultimately we are talking about government services already covered by taxation and I suggest there is an even better method for the hapless citizen. How about demanding legislation that dumps the cost burden directly on the official that caused the problem in the first place as a fine. Once they compare the loss of monies with the income they get just for "doing the job" they will quickly change their ways. Never mind the potential loss of the job itself. But make them pay the piper.

Oct 31 2013:
Developing countries maybe poor economically but developed countries has also their share of corruption..morality. As world population increases, it is also expected that evil deeds of men expand. It is unavoidable. The bad outnumbers the good. The world is decaying and is destined to become worst. Look at global warming, is it man-made or natural occurence?

Oct 31 2013:
The corruiption in developing nations is none of our business. If the people of those nations want to deal with corruption it is their responsibility to take control of their own lives and do something about it.

Oct 29 2013:
The growing prevalence of corruption is mainly due to the silence of people against the injustice that is caused to them. They know that they are being wronged against, but decide to keep it silent and do nothing about it. As much as it is the fault of the people who are corrupt, it is also the fault of the people who are suffering in silence. The citizens of a country have alot of power which they fail to realise. Should they stand up for their rights, slowly this problem may be alleviated. Of course, this may be oversimplification of the problem, yet, it is the first step to start the journey to eradicate corruption.

Oct 28 2013:
As over the years we tend to try to solve the wrong problems. We know that the choice between right and wrong is an innate characteristic in us all. What we fail to recognize is that as long as we have free will we have the opportunity to choose corruption over other potential solutions. Removing the desire of choosing corruption is a multi-faceted problem. As a society first we have to choose to remove corruption from all areas of life:
* People - As I stated above it is an innate characteristic. How do we eliminate the temptation of corruption?
* Industry - How can we get the private sectors to police themselves to keep society safe?
* Politics - Politics is about power and control. How do we remove the power and control from politicians?
* Money - Of course it's all about money because money is seen as a way to gain power to most, rather than to give substance.
* Recognition and Reward - We reward bad behavior because we set wealth and status above recognition of those that give service and sacrifice.

We have had tremendous examples throughout time that have shown us how to live without corruption but, we are ourselves are unable to set the example because of the fear of falling behind those who are corrupt. As hard as we try, corruption still comes from within not from the outside. I can only control myself and set the example.
It is a difficult problem and I believe can only be solved over time, but time is running out we need to act now by standing together for what’s right and accept nothing else.

Oct 28 2013:
Corruption is an economic inefficiency. Capitalism and Corruption are handmaidens.
Corruption is hence a voice that demands refinement of the legal and democratic system. Only if the society consolidates itself an subverts the existing process can Corruption and other such evils can be brought down.

Oct 28 2013:
Unless everyone is ready to make sacrifices, corruption cannot be fought against. Corruption has to be curbed at individual and societal level first and only then it will make some difference at a national level. It's actually we, the people who are letting it grow. What we usually do is that we think at individual level. In order to get the things done for own self, we often forget what form it is going to take at larger level. Also, along with this if people, as a whole come together with essential courage, honesty and unity it surely can make a lot of difference. For this, it becomes very important to change the way people think at root level, much of which can be achieved by implementing a good education system. People's thoughts and actions are the only ways which surely can make a whole lot of a difference. It's not just about ruling party or corrupt officers only, it's about us, and we have all the power to fight against it and possibly eradicate it as a whole.

Oct 27 2013:
I think the only way to fight against corruption is in the hands of individuals. Every human being is selfish by nature but when that selfishness get to a level where the person wants everything for himself even without deserving it, then the corruption start. This kind of behavior normally start with individuals, generally people working for the government, and reinforced with time until it becomes spread in the society and believed to be the only way to become rich or to get to the top of the society. Hence "bad" people become more rich and those who refuse to be that selfish become poorer and this will continue unless good individuals decide otherwise and put their voices together and say "stop" because the union is power and the individuals are the reason why the government exists. so people need to stand up for their rights, because they have nothing to loose or they have nothing in the first place, but those at the top have everything that they are afraid to lose and they have no choice left than quit or at least start giving people some of what they deserve and also we must admit that corruption won't be over in 24 hours. It has taken place during tens of years and need also years to be overcome but the start is the important act and it in the hands of the individuals.

Oct 24 2013:
If the world is full of pure honest leaders, it doesn't change anything. Only Individuals' value recovery via self discovery can guarantee national recovery hence corruption free world. Human identity isn't based on social class, race or riches but true potential discovery. When value corruption is resolved, economic corruption will automatically be dealt with. It's presently a world tortured by identity crisis but i believe the tide will turn soonest.

Oct 24 2013:
Corruption is an ever present force in every form of human government that ever existed. It can not be eliminated completely, but it has to be maintained at manageable levels by active effort. Please refer to Plato, Democracy for a dynamical equilibrium strategy. Corruption is often actively supported by collectives that benefit from it. (Systems: governments, international firms, etc.). Thus it can not be counteracted at a personal level. These collectives are often external to the country, with small short-term benefactors within the country to propagate their efforts. There are two propagators, forces that attack and weaken corruption management mechanisms and forces that actively involve in corruption. Exact technical details of the implementation in more open cases can be found in what France/Belgium did in Rwanda, English in Sudan, and more recently the English in Zimbawe. In my personal opinion, short-term profit maximizing strategies (often employed by persons and firms rather than governments) is the main corruption propagation vector. Thus, a corruption maintenance system must be able to actively track and heavily discourage such entities. Since it is fighting against a collective, it has to be a collective of equal or more strength. This requires a critical mass of individuals which can identify their long-term benefits as citizens which will be granted the power of policy making only a very brief amount of time, a free media (non-profit, reliable, and efficient information sharing; such as internet based low publishing cost cited news journals), and a society/police that obeys the ruleset generated by the ever circulating policy makers. See French revolution, Mandela reforms, and formation of Turkish republic regarding how such a system can be kickstarted. See current situation in Turkey how such a system can be destroyed (origin vector: 1980 coup).

Oct 23 2013:
I think we need to stop asking our government and big businesses to stop being corrupt... You can't expect the people who benefit from the system to change it, the only ones who follow laws and count money are not govt officials or big business owners, but the people.
So we need to stop abiding by certain laws, we should stop using money, stop supporting big businesses and governments with our labor and consumption.
We sit here and we think we need money, government, and companies, but no its the money, government and corporations that need us. Stop making yourself available. Become more self sufficient and build a system of interdependence among yourselves. It can be that simple. But we have to all agree to do it, even if in our own way

Oct 19 2013:
Degree to which this phenomenon prevents countries from moving foward differs from one country to other. For countries where global well being is taken in hostage by corruption, i will suggest a radical revolution : Let's threathen the dignity of culprits by revealing their malpractices in national media. I understand that corruption should be considered as two dimensional: High level corruption done at a higher level of the country, by people in charge ( Govt...) and corruption done by the common citizen ( policeman, teacher, nurse...), all these fellow who are being given meagre fare to survive and who engage in this activity for the sake of survival. I strongly believe that corruption should be rooted out first from the higher level; minimal wages ajustement will follow after redirecting all the flow of corruption from official, so that lower class could benefit from it. Corruption will therefore be kicked out thereafter. Punishment will be non other than public humiliation, under a well advertised communication.

Oct 18 2013:
By having problem consciousness and hope, I think.
As my country, people are too cooled off to vote for election.
(Only about half voted in this year..(T-T))
Also, people have to be carful not to be manipulated by media or anything, which is quite difficult.
Because someone, who really try to change, are always attacked by the other corrupted officials.

Oct 10 2013:
The very way the world is arbitrarily divided into countries is at the root of the problem. People are forced into bondage. Governments have stolen our identity. The governments of most countries impose upon "their" citizens some form of material id, i.e. id card, drivers licences, passports etc. And governments control directly or indirectly currencies. Such a system will never be corruption free.

Oct 10 2013:
It seems to me that this whole question is based on the idea that corruption is localized. I would argue, however, that it is anything but this. In a globalized (or at least globalizing) world, nothing, particularly not something as complex as corruption, can be conceived of so simply. Perhaps, in order to actually answer the question, I ought to break it down into two related questions: what can those of us in the developed world do to combat this corruption and what can the developing world do? (I really loathe the terminology I feel forced to use there, and will likely fall into the trap of again, and wish to clarify that if it reads, in any way, as paternalistic, it was far from my intent.) So, dealing with those in order, those of us on the outside can help by being insistent in our lack of support for such practices. I don't mean simply saying that we do not approve of them; what I am suggesting is something larger and actual. It seems to me that a good bit of the desire (or the incentive) to be corrupt comes from external influences, particularly economic ones. What those of us in the developed world ought to do, if we are serious about combating corruption, is get out of the way of local leaders and local developments, as fully as possible without doing undue damage to the population as a whole. However, this is only half of the coin. Local efforts must be made too (and this is surely not limited to the developing world, the lack of wide-spread active resistance to campaign financing practices in the United States also serves to express it). The historical solution has been, eventually, revolution. I am unsure that this is the most applicable or productive solution today. Refusal is a good option, though perhaps ineffective. The best option, though nearly impossible, is perhaps total economic restructuring and a full separation of economic powers and governing powers.

Oct 9 2013:
Attitudinal change is a good start. These days evil gets rebranded and is given catchy names to make them seem harmless. In fact, there is the slogan "Greed is good".
If any section of the society can give seemingly good excuses for their greed and unethical acts, then we should not be too alarmed if we have dodgy or crooked leaders.

We all need attitudinal change for the fight against corruption to be effective. After all, leaders are not aliens or spirits, but products of the society.

Oct 11 2013:
I agree completely. Corruption is motivated largely by greed, which means that normal corrupt activities need to be made unprofitable to stop the people committing them. Clever criminals always find a way around the problem, but if the problem is so big and such a hassle to move around, they'll stop and take their activities elsewhere.

Comment deleted

Oct 9 2013:
in a democratic society we talk of equality and practise inequality... you look at cuba, venezuela, libya and all you see is tyranny because you have no discipline in your life.
you look at money as a measurement of progress not development in education, healthcare and infrastructure. some of the countries mentioned have different degrees of progress and development. these do not have western society structures, yet you would impose sanctions instead of assistance.
you at how much money the leaders horde as if you do not save money...
cuba = some of the best doctors, libya = housing & infrastructure, venezuela the youngest with its leader dying not too long ago has its work cut out.

i live in a country which was once state owned and now it has sold off and privatised the peoples assets = bad education, infrastructure, corruption increasing unemployment...
yes it can be any western country and it is every western country.

democracy and the western model of society has no morality or self respect = divide, conquer, dictate and debate

Oct 6 2013:
Thanks. I'll explain.
Corruption is a human social aberration that exists from antiquity like prostitution. When we discuss seriously about what must be done to stop or hinder it we need to understand why it is such an old institution.
In one part it is built in human psyche as a survival trait - I shall talk about it later. In the other part it goes on due to lack of public awareness, inefficient governance, lack of education, poverty, unjustified aspiration etc. It is practically meaningless to talk about stopping it in societies where there is no or low regard for basic honesty.
In a personal level, I follow some simple rules like never jumping a queue, never forgetting a bus/rail ticket (even if it is unmanned), never abusing a system meant for people. I used to be shy about being honest. These days I show it off. I think it encourages others.
But in the part where a human aberration is concerned, corruption can only be fought by seeking and ensuring complete transparency in every aspect of life.

Oct 5 2013:
Well Jaime ! Shaffi was welcomed because he came up with a new unique idea to fight against corruption. But, before adopting such ideas, we must analysis all the factors as far as we can. For example, see following TED Conversation that doubts on Shaffi's idea for being practical -

Where everyone is being watched by other one. A group of volunteers may create a Non-Profitable organization (not NGOs, coz NGOs deals with politics or international issues). This can be the first network to take initiative. But, I recommand, this organization must not be on the basis of organizational structure, No senior No junior ! Every Volunteer will be connected to other volunteer. Every volunteer will have same badge and will be appointed to a his/her township. Volunteer will be given a 'Book of Anti-Corruption' laws and his/her duties under circumstances.

Every volunteer will make aware to every people of his/her township and guide them to contact him in case any face corruption. As soon as incident happens, concern volunteer will be informed by acquitted and he will inform to all other volunteers. They all together will directly approach Anti-corruption Government body , media, etc. and ofcourse the accused will be warned by volunteers :)

Well, because the public itself will be involved, the government bodies ( or representative) will be under the pressure. I think this way the corruption can be rooted out...

So, finally Jamie , this is just an idea may not be correct or upto the mark ! What do you say.. ?

Oct 5 2013:
In some tyrannic nations such as china ,North Korea and Iran how the people can succeed in not giving the state that much power ? The government have army ,police and jails.It is a very long and hard way for the people there to go .As a Chinese people ,i really feel very depressed when think of that.

What is it that makes you see with one eye only? What causes this Pavlov's reflex to relate corruption to governments exclusively? How do your denial mechanism function and cope with corruption within businesses?